Cheese
by vegi burger
Summary: “I’m sure I saw an actual couch in here somewhere” . Lorelai and Luke's first night at the new house.


"So this is your parents' idea for a present?" Luke asked, huffing and puffing while moving the last box from his truck, 'last' being a somewhat fluid term, as The Crap Shack, or as Luke now lovingly called it— 'The Money Pit', was still full of boxes, as well as several random objects that Lorelai felt just belonged in the place and she couldn't stand the thought of moving them away from their home.

"Yep. This is a nice, modest gift in Gilmore-land" she answered, patting the still bare wall of the entry as she stepped out of his way, allowing him to un-ceremonially drop the big box in the would be living room.

"And… I'm done," he flopped onto the biggest, most stable looking box out of the endless pile that seemed to have taken over the room. "I'm sure I saw an actual couch in here somewhere," he sighed and took off his cap to rub his forehead, finally realizing what 'moving' really meant.

"I'm pretty sure there are at least two of them. One here…" she pointed her head towards a particularly crowded part of the room, "and one…" she looked around, aimlessly, until she gave up and sat down on a plastic porch chair next to him. "I have no idea where the other one is. It's funny, when I first moved with Rory, we owned practically nothing, so it was quite different… who would have thought that poverty could make your life easier?"

He didn't answer, as he was still regaining his breath, feeling exhausted. He's been making endless trips all day long back and forth, doing a lot more than he bargained for, after finding out that the moving service Emily hired for them consisted of Kirk and Kyle— who promised that his missing hand was actually a blessing, his hook helped him not to drop the heavy things and that 'the holes are barely noticeable'.

"Here," she handed him a cool bottle of beer, "you deserve it."

"Thank you," he groaned, taking the bottle but not bothering to open it.

"You're ok?"

"I'm ok. It's just… a lot of work."

"Everything in life that's worth anything is…" she tilted her head sympathetically.

"Oh, I know," he gave her a meaningful glare, the tiniest hint of a smile toying with his mouth.

They turned their heads away from each other, and allowed themselves to quietly examine their surroundings for the first time since the end of their first moving day.

"So this is it?" he half asked, half stated.

"This is it." She answered, awe in her voice. Her eyes glistened as a world of possibilities unfolded itself in her mind. "We should name this place."

"We should?"

"We should. Definitely. To make it official. To make it ours. That was the first thing Rory and I did when we first moved."

"Maybe if you'd waited a little you could have come up with a better name than 'The Crap shack'."

She frowned at him, not failing to see his point. "Just shut up, please, and think names."

"How about… we call it 'the house'?"

"Too impersonal," she shook her head.

"'**Our **house'?" he tried.

"It's too cold."

"How about we call it- 'our home'?" his voice softened.

"Our home," she smiled widely, her eyes sparkling. "I like the sound of that."

He smiled back. "I like it too," he admitted. His eyes locked on hers as they paused for a moment, the notion of 'their home' echoing between them.

"Well, you're in the right direction, but that's not it. It's not very creative, you see. We need something with more character."

"I see. Shouldn't we be focusing on finding other, more important names?" He asked, raising his eyebrow, eyeing her bulging stomach.

"Oh, I told you," she said dismissively," I already have those names taken care of."

"I remember." He sighed loudly.

"If it's a boy, we're gonna name him Jack…"

"…after your favorite cheese!" He finished, with mock-enthusiasm.

"And if it's a girl," she continued, ignoring him, "we're gonna name it…"

"Goat, after mine."

"...Leila, representing both of ours initials and joining the family's tradition of L names."

"I'm just happy I talked you out of 'Lorelai the forth'."

"It was just an idea…"

"You cannot have the third and the forth within the same generation. It doesn't work that way," he quickly stopped her before she got a chance to comment,"Yes, even if they are more than twenty years apart. What would you have used for a nickname, 'Rory the second'?"

"I might have." She pouted indignantly.

"Jeez."

"I thought you liked the name Jack"

"I do, I just don't like the secret meaning you attached to it."

"Hey, when you're pregnant, you're allowed to be a little crazy."

"A little?"

"And I like cheese!"

"I know you do. But you don't name a kid after cheese."

"Fine. I'll find it some other secret meaning. Can you name a house after cheese?"

"A house?"

"This house. Remember, we were talking names…"

"I was hoping you'd forget. What do you have in mind, Ricotta? Mozzarella?"

"You're getting there…"

"Cottage?"

She giggled. "That would be appropriate! But no."

"Please tell me you're not thinking about 'Gorgonzola'," he pleaded, clear despair in his voice.

She winced. "Maybe if the house was haunted… I don't even want to know what kind of cheese that is … I was thinking maybe 'Lanark Blue'."

"Lanark Blue?"

"The house is blue," she explained, matter-a-factly.

"I noticed." He had on his 'how did I get so deep into this conversation' look on, usually reserved only for Kirk and her mother.

"And it's pronounceable. You won't believe how hard to pronounce some of those cheese names are!"

"Oh, I believe it… I can't wait for this cheese craving phase to end."

"Don't you think it sounds sort of regal?"

"It sounds like cheese." He, on the other hand, sounded like he was on verge of tears.

"Regal cheese?"

"Maybe. Can we please delay this discussion until tomorrow and settle for 'home' for now? Please?"

"Home it is." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Never let it be said that Lorelai Gilmore is an irrational person."

He snorted. "They wouldn't dare."

She straightened in her seat. "Hey, Luke?"

He was afraid to ask.

"I have a little confession to make."

"Confession?" he was even more afraid now.

"You know today, when I told you I was going to Sookie's to stay out of your way?"

He nodded, his eyes getting wider by the second.

"Well, I wasn't really going to Sookie's. Truth is, I went to the hospital."

"The hospital!" if she thought he looked freaked a second ago, it was nothing compared to how he looked now: his skin changed colors from red to green to white and back and his eyes threatened to come out of their sockets.

"It's ok…" she patted his hand, reassuring him. "I'm ok… it's just all the moving excitement got to me… and all the dust wasn't too helpful either."

"I'm sorry," he started, "I should have known better, I shouldn't have let you…"

"Luke! Can I get to my point please?"

He pressed his lips together tightly, signaling her to go on.

"So, after they made sure everything was fine, they asked me if… well, they found something we didn't…"

"They found something?"

"Yes."

"In the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Lorelai, you're not telling me you're…"

"Twins!" She had to shout to get him to concentrate.

"What?" he breathed, clearly still struggling to register what she just said.

"I said… whatever names we end up deciding on… we're going to be able to use them both."

"Both?" he was a little slow on the uptake tonight. "You mean…?"

"Twins." She could feel something warm and wonderful spreading in her chest while she said the word. "We're gonna have twins. Two babies. A little boy…"

"And a little girl." A dreamy expression spread over his face. "We're gonna have twins?"

The disbelief in his voice was punctured by sheer joy.

"I get that you're happy about this?"

"I'm…" he could barely breath, until suddenly snapped out of it. "You're not gonna name them after cheese, right?"

"No… for twins, it's all about sets. If anything, more like Mac and cheese, or fish and chips, or milk and cookies or…"

He put his palm over her mouth. "Please let me enjoy this."

"OK" she mumbled under his palm, which he agreed to remove only to replace it with his lips. As she deepened the kiss and joined him on top of his giant, surprisingly comfortable box, slipping her tongue into his mouth and her fingers into his hair, she couldn't help but think about how finally, after all these years, she really did have her 'whole package', and how it felt so right, that she didn't even mind how cheesy it sounded.


End file.
